Free Web NovelChapter 364: Chapter 144: Troublesome Matters (Part 2)
Who would have thought? The main branch of the family, once so pitiful they couldn’t even afford to eat, had now made something of themselves. They even had a new Scholar in the family.
The old madam was as sour as if she’d drunk a jug of aged vinegar. Nothing pleased her, and she went around the house banging and crashing things, disturbing all the neighbors.
She refused to attend the banquet and forbade Li’an and Shou’an from going either.
When she saw Shou’an hunching over and trying to sneak out, she quickly stepped forward, grabbed him by the ear, and warned, "You weren’t born a beggar, so why are you going scrounging for their food? They didn’t send a special invitation for you, so you’re not to go. Don’t be so eager for everything; you’ll just make people look down on you."
Shou’an cried out in pain, throwing himself on the ground and rolling around in a tantrum. "I want to go to the feast! I want to go to the feast..."
Li’an, on the other hand, had a wooden expression on his face. He squatted on the ground, clutching his head with both hands, wondering what on earth had happened to his family.
Just half a year ago, everything at home had been fine.
Ever since Wanyue and Jing broke off their engagement, the whole family had changed.
The people at the feast were all gossiping about the old Chen family residence and the third branch of the Chen family.
"They’ll never recover."
"A whole family of real pieces of work. Who knows what’ll become of them in the end."
Chen Wanqing heard these snippets of gossip, and naturally, Xu Su Ying heard them too.
Xu Su Ying whispered to her daughter, "Things over there are still a mess, just you watch. Now that Jing and De’an have both become Scholars, the old madam’s ambitions have flared up again. She’s now forcing your grandfather to come up with money for Li’an to continue his studies, but where would the old man get any money? Every day’s earnings, the old man hands it all over to the old madam the moment he gets back. That old madam is a real glutton—she won’t part with a single coin. This whole affair... it’s going to get ugly."
Then she brought up Mrs. Li. "I’m embarrassed for her! She has a perfectly decent life to live, but instead, she insists on clinging to that man like a mistress. The women in the county town don’t mince words, either. They say she’s worse than a prostitute. That man is only interested in her now because she’s young and knows how to serve him. Just wait until she’s old; you’ll see what good comes of it for her..."
Amidst all the chatter, the banquet came to an end.
Chen Song’s family had to return home that day. After the banquet, they chatted for a bit with the people of the Zhao Village, then hitched up their ox-cart and headed home.
In the following two days, the temperature rose sharply. It was sweltering in the mornings and evenings, and by noon, it was so hot that people were dressing in their summer clothes.
Amidst this feverish atmosphere, a stream of carts came and went from the Zhao Village. Scholars and students from the county town all came to the Zhao Village to pay a visit to Zhao Jing.
Zhao Jing was so busy he wished he could clone himself, and he remained swamped for two full days.
While Zhao Jing was busy, Chen Wanqing was also running around with her feet barely touching the ground. frёewebηovel.cѳm
She had taken up the incense-making business again, personally overseeing the process. On top of that, she had to manage the shop and personally grind two of the secret medicinal ingredients, so she was busy from morning till night without a moment’s rest. free𝑤ebnovel.com
In the midst of this busy period, Xu Su Ying found her and told her that one of the incense makers had developed ill intentions.
"It’s the wife from the fifth branch of the Zhao family, named Shi Lanhua. She’s the eldest in her own family, with five younger sisters and a younger brother. Her family is dirt-poor, eating chaff and wild vegetables year-round."
Xu Su Ying said in a low voice, "I don’t know if her parents put her up to it, or if it was her brother and sister-in-law, but Shi Lanhua has been stuffing a few incense pills into her clothes every day. Over time, they’ve managed to build up quite a stash."
Her family wasn’t bold enough to openly sell Moonlight Fragrance in Qingshui County. They were very cautious, running over to the neighboring county and selling them under the pretense that the incense pills had gotten damp. They’d sell a box every now and then.
As luck would have it, she had been going to the nearby county towns to buy spices herself during this time.
The clerk at the spice shop knew their business and that they were the primary producer of Moonlight Fragrance, so he specifically reminded her that someone was selling fakes under their name, telling her to be on the lookout.
She kept an eye out and managed to track the person down.
But what they were selling wasn’t fake at all; it was clearly the real thing.
A similar upsetting incident had happened before.
That young wife hadn’t stolen incense pills to sell, but she had pilfered spices to make scented sachets or stew meat at home.
At that time, Second Aunt had also discovered the matter and privately warned the young wife, who returned the items the very next day.
The matter wasn’t blown out of proportion, and Second Aunt didn’t press the issue further, which allowed some people to keep thinking they could get away with it and act unscrupulously when they had the chance.
Xu Su Ying’s point was, "We can’t be lenient this time. If she can steal incense pills, she can also add things to them. That could be fatal, and we can’t just ignore it."
Chen Wanqing agreed. This matter certainly couldn’t be left to run its course. Otherwise, people would see their concessions as weakness and push them step by step until they were backed into a corner.
